


strangers when we meet

by girlsarewolves



Series: tumblr askbox fills [4]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman: The Animated Series, Catwoman - All Media Types, DC Animated Universe (Timmverse)
Genre: F/M, Tumblr Ask Box Fic, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-15 06:51:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18068648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlsarewolves/pseuds/girlsarewolves
Summary: The first time Bruce sees Selina after Jervis' perfect life trap, his breath catches in his throat. Something leftover from that imaginary life suddenly flickers to life, a reflexive desire to reach out and pull her over for a kiss, apologize for the way he left things - and he clenches down on that urge, hard, before his hand can even move. That world was a lie, a dream, nothing more. He's awake now, and she is none the wiser.





	strangers when we meet

**Author's Note:**

> For Nicole/tumblr user **juleswicker** , for the prompt: "one character adjusting the other's jewelry/neck tie/ etc."
> 
> Hope you like it! I went with something set in the DCAU verse.

* * *

The first time Bruce sees Selina after Jervis' perfect life trap, his breath catches in his throat. Something leftover from that imaginary life suddenly flickers to life, a reflexive desire to reach out and pull her over for a kiss, apologize for the way he left things - and he clenches down on that urge, hard, before his hand can even move. That world was a lie, a dream, nothing more. He's awake now, and she is none the wiser.

 

They are not together.

 

His parents are dead.

 

He is the Batman.

 

But he remembers little glimpses of that life - of a past where Selina isn't a criminal, and he isn't a vigilante. Where they are happy. He could almost laugh, because that happiness wasn't just a lie for him - it was a lie for her. He knows that such a simple, pampered life isn't the kind Selina Kyle - Catwoman - could ever be completely satisfied and content with. As wrong as it felt to him, despite how tempting it was, he thinks that it would have seemed just as off to her as well.

 

Not that he's so cocky to think their dream lives would match up so succinctly. Or that he'd even have a place in it - though he suspects that Batman at least might.

 

Selina glances over from the corner where she's waiting for the crosswalk signal, as if instinctively feeling eyes on her. Her gaze meets his and that urge returns to him, stronger this time though he resists. The fact that those green eyes set something inside him on fire doesn't help, and then Selina is walking over with a slow smile on her lips and a gleam in her eyes - looking every bit like the cat that ate the canary. This is not the upper class woman from his dream - sweet and supportive and one-dimensional - this is the woman he goes toe to toe with on rooftops and in alleyways, who he can never tell if she's going to try to claw him or kiss him.

 

"Fancy meeting you, Bruce," she greets when she reaches him.

 

He can't help but quirk an eyebrow, glancing back at the Wayne Enterprises logo on the building he's just exited. "I know I don't come here that often, but is it that unlikely?"

 

She laughs softly, the sound seductive and warm. "I suppose not. But you do seem to find other ways and places to spend your time."

 

 _You have no idea_ , he bites down. Perhaps it's unfair, knowing who she is, courting after her like this while pushing her away as the Bat. He's always been a little self-destructive when it comes to his love life, and even with Selina, the woman who fascinates him and grabs his attention and has yet to let go, that likely won't ever change. He laughs, self-deprecating, and rubs at the back of his neck. "Sadly, I lack the shrewd mind of a businessman - I leave running the company to much smarter and more capable people."

 

"You sell yourself too short, Bruce," she says, and her hands are reaching upwards - he almost steps back, almost grabs them, unsure of her intentions, but something leftover from that dream finally wins out and keeps him in place. It's all too familiar for something that has never really happened, her fingers gently taking hold of his tie and tightening it, aligning it with his shirt just so. She smiles up at him, a little gentler, fonder this time. "But then I think that's part of your charm, isn't it? Throws people off." Her face is closer now, and he realizes she's moving in - and he stands there, frozen and letting himself appear dumbfounded instead of grateful - until her lips are brushing chastely against his cheek. "I think you like people underestimating you," she adds - and with that, she's gone, showing off that speed and grace that drives him wild every night. "See you around, Bruce."

 

"See you around, Selina," he replies. He's got a feeling he'll be seeing her tonight.

* * *

 


End file.
